Ibn Ziaten began campaigning against radicalisation after her son Imad –– a soldier –– was killed by jihadist gunman Mohamed Merah in 2012.

On Tuesday she received a Women Of Courage award presented by US Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington. Earlier this month she also received the French Legion Of Honour medal from President Francois Hollande.

Some posters said Rossignol’s comments amounted to “state racism”, while yet others expressed surprise that arguments were still raging over what women choose to wear.

Many social media users posted under the hashtag #rossignoldemission –– “Rossignol resignation” –– and a petition calling on her to step down gained thousands of signatures.

Rossignol had been appearing on BFMTV to discuss the growing Islamic fashion market (in French), worth about $230 billion according to some estimates.

She said the growing influence of a hard-line or “salafist” version of Islam in some communities in France meant that women were being seen less and less frequently on the street and in cafes.

Developing Islamic fashion products for the Western market was “irresponsible”, she said, because it puts Muslim women who are being pressurised to dress more modestly “in a position where they have to wear it”.

As the row grew, a former French fashion mogul, Pierre Berge, lent the embattled French minister his support.

Berge told Europe 1 radio station that brands developing clothing aimed at Muslim women were taking part in the “enslavement of women”.

He said fashion existed to “give women their freedom”, not to collaborate with a “dictatorship” that he said sought to “hide women and make them live a hidden life”.